The Egression Project
by unheardCrepitate
Summary: Faced with the choice of becoming homeless again or taking in monster roommates, Ashley Jones must bring her worst nightmares into her home and keep them safe from a stranger looking to harm them. Rated M for Violence, Gore, Adult themes, and Sexual Content.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I only own my original characters and the few original places. The rest of the characters, Mt. Ebott, and it's city belong to Toby Fox.

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Author's Note: Sorry about any grammatical or wording errors! I'm not new to FanFiction, but I'm certainly not a distinguished, well experienced writer. Still, this story wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote about it! So, bare with me. It might be a bit boring at first, as I'm setting up important facts and reasoning for the first few chapters. It should be around Chapter Four where we meet Papyrus and Sans! I'm also trying my best to make sure Ashley is not a Mary-sue, but doesn't remain an annoying Plain Jane forever.

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The first sightings of the monsters caused slight panic among a group of drunks in this little city. Everyone just thought they were crazy or seeking attention. A month later, government officials and armed forces moved in. Of course, the Mayor soothed the frightened masses, claiming this was a military drill. They erected fences under this guise. People started leaving then, if they lived in apartments or had other places to go.

That's when the public announcement came. The Mayor had called as many people as possible to a city meeting and the local news station supported the broadcast. Not one soul in the city missed the announcement.

Monsters were real and they were here to stay. Apparently, they'd been trapped under Mount Ebott's system of caverns and caves. Magic was real too, apparently. Humans, of course, had been the imprisoners. The monsters had been trapped for thousands of years and faded into myth and legend. But, no they were real and the city was officially being sequestered by the government in order to perform an experiment.

They were going to see if monsters could truly integrate with human society.

After the Mayor's speech, a child appeared on stage, claiming to be the Ambassador to the monsters. Of course, this was not taken seriously, and was nearly thrown off as a government joke or some other reasoning as to why the Mayor would give such an announcement. Then they made an appearance. The monsters. Specifically, the Queen and King of the Monsters.

They terrified everyone. Goats, anthropomorphic goat creatures walking towards the Mayor. Some ran away screaming. Many, many of the people who had another place to go left the city. Some stayed, simply because they had to or they wanted to participate in the experiment.

Oh yes, the Experiment. Humans would take on monster roommates, learn about them, gauge how monster and human relations would work out. Who would need to be protected from who? Where did monsters fit in on the surface, culturally? Was magic going to need to be regulated? Would there need to be different laws for monsters?

The world outside of their city was in shock and awe. The city was in shock, awe, and fear. Some from outside of the city attempted to move here, to join in the experiment. But, there were strict regulations and no one was allowed in, only out. The imposing gates were being replaced, upgraded, and turned into something that could be protected better.

The world didn't want to let the unknown out and monsters did not want to be run back into their caverns because of fear and violence.

Ashley Jones was terrified, confused, and put in a predicament where she would have to face her worst nightmare or become homeless.

Ashley had lived in an apartment with two other roommates who had been vastly more well off than she had been and without them, she probably would have been on the streets of this city. She always paid her portion of the rent and utilities, but after that, she couldn't afford much else aside from her essentials and food.

Moving wasn't an option, as they were giving people two weeks to either leave, move within the city, or become part of this project. That meant she would either take in monsters and receive stipends from the government or manage to scrounge up enough money to pay for a new apartment outside (or inside) of the city. The latter was impossible and she refused to be homeless again.

So she faced the fact she would have to live with monsters. When she was young, she had night terrors, some she would remember, but most were forgotten. She could handle fake monsters, some horror movies (to an extent), and she even enjoyed Halloween. But, it took so long to overcome the fact that monsters weren't real.

But, they were. The public were assured that the monsters acted relatively normal. They were even slightly westernized and cultured, thanks to trash that had apparently fallen to the depths of the caverns. That didn't help really. They didn't seem to be a species based around only goat creatures, but none of the other monsters made an appearance, for their own safety.

That made things even more questionable. It filled Ashley with anxiety that was quickly making her want to run to the library and put a plea for help out onto the internet. After all, she didn't own a computer and didn't have internet anymore, so that was going to cut into a lot of her time if she needed to research something.

Tomorrow was the day that all who wanted to participate in the program would have to make the trip to the City Hall in order to apply for a position. Ashley clutched her stomach and curled up on the ratty old couch she was left with. She was so scared of both options. She couldn't very well leave the city, she walked everywhere as it was and the next town was a couple of days of walking to get to.

If she ended up homeless on the streets of this small city, she would still have to face the monsters as they made their lives there. She would face her fear of the creatures one way or another and she didn't want live through being homeless again. It was demeaning, terrifying, dangerous, and disgusting.

She fell over on the couch, still curled up and savoring the thread-bare fabric that held it all together. It was a bit like her anxiety, the only thing holding all of it in was her desperation to live and be happy again, but that was threadbare and used up and holes were likely going to develop.

Tomorrow wasn't going to be a fun day for her.

However, in this city there was someone quite eager to pluck up a few poor monsters and give them a place in the world. There was nothing they would have liked more.

This person was already waltzing about their impeccably clean apartment, pushing items to and fro, straightening what was seemingly already straight. It was the perfect, clean, and well taken care of apartment. The furniture was white and modern and gorgeous and oh the decorations, the decorations were superb.

It brought a sweet smile to the stranger's face as they dusted over their collection with a white, feathered duster. Oh yes, they wanted monster roommates very badly. The person stepped back, admiring the collection with yearning eyes.


	2. The Fear

Disclaimer: I only own my original characters and the few original places. The rest of the characters, Mt. Ebott, and it's city belong to Toby Fox.

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Morning had come too quickly for Ashley. She'd fallen asleep on the couch and it had been a fitful rest full of nothing but waking up and thinking about how everything could possibly go wrong. They could kill her, she could kill them, they could kill her, she could ruin it for them, they could kill her, or someone else could kill them under her watch. She thought about how they might not possibly hurt her, but they could hurt other people.

It could be their plan to take over the world and bring upon years of pain, suffering, and torture. But, the King and Queen had seemed nice and polite enough and a child had managed to free them. The child could be possessed by their magical demon powers and could be doing their bidding in order to lure everyone into a false sense of security.

Ashley sucked her cheeks into her teeth and bit down, forcing herself off of the couch and to jitter her way into the now somewhat barren bathroom. After all, her roommates left and took most of the good stuff (their stuff) with them. She stared in the mirror for a long time, trying to psych herself up and force herself to get ready and get down there before she missed her chance.

For a moment, she wondered if the monsters could fear humans. With how she looked right now, she feared herself. A small, forced chuckle left her mouth as she tried to find humor in the situation.

She was somewhat pale with an almost sickly pinkish-yellow tone, her face had zits, she had unparalleled split ends on her mousy brown hair, and on top of it all she definitely had some chub going on and it made her ill, just staring at herself. There was only one good feature she was happy with and that was her eyes. They were blue. It was an average kind of blue, nothing that sparkled or had the transparency of Caribbean blue waters, but they were decent. Unfortunately, a pair of ridiculously thick glasses were glued to her face for most of her living hours.

Not really feeling up to it, she just brushed her teeth with a great bit of force and spat like a llama. Her hair was pulled into a tight ponytail that wasn't tight enough to keep those odds and ends sort of hairs from sticking up. She was satisfied enough with her appearance and decided that her clothes from yesterday would suffice. She slunk into the living room and picked up her phone, wallet, and house keys, safely storing them in her pocket.

All of the lights were shut off and she was out of the door. It took thirty minutes to walk from here to the City Hall, where there was an already impressive queue snaking around the building. She took her place at the end of the line. You could already tell what kind of people were looking forward to taking the monsters in.

You had the kindly old grandparents who wish for love and affection, you have the weird adults who were still clinging to high school fads (goths, emos, geeks mostly), then there were some you couldn't read, some people who were doing the experiment to look cool, there were others there just so they could be 'open minded' and 'progressive' and help out the poor oppressed monsters, and then there were people like her. In it for the cash, the money, the moolah, the financial stability.

Her head swiveled around a bit and she could see it from the start of the line to the end of the line. She'd been standing there only thirty more minutes wedged between quite the big fellow and someone who seemed far too excited to be taking in suspicious, unknown, undocumented MONSTERS into their home. At the end of the line, there was one other person who was just odd. Completely dressed in an impressively clean white from head to toe, which caused her natural copper skin to glow an unnatural color. Ashley managed to catch this stranger's eyes.

Dark black, voided eyes. There was a flash of beautiful white that seemed even more pearly with the dark red lips that framed the bones. Ashley didn't look away until the extremely large man pushed her forward.

Who was that person? Was she rich? She looked rich. Eccentric rich person looking for something more thrilling than whatever trinkets and gadgets they might have? Ashley could only guess. Either way, that woman was definitely beautiful, which made Ashley very self-conscious. It could be worse, she could smell as bad as the guy behind her.

It was two more hours till she reached the booths where computers were set up and people seemed to be taking surveys, filling out paperwork, and talking to an interviewer, all at once. All. At. Once. It was the trifecta of horror that she didn't want to face, but after standing in a slow moving line for two hours straight, she was feeling up to sitting in those chairs.

She had no idea she was going to an interview today! Already she began to sweat from her forehead down to her feet, her hands were clammy and she felt paler than normal. There was no way she was going to make the cut. She looked gross and nervous, and they probably wouldn't be impressed with her credentials and they would probably think she was a lazy slob. That was true in terms of her appearance, but she always tried to keep clean and inoffensive with her smell.

A portly, but kind looking police officer was directing the flow of people, motioning for the next person to come to the next seat that was vacated. He looked to Ashley and waved at her with a kind, understanding smile, as if witnessing reactions like hers all day long. She tried to smile, but it came out very forced and she wobbled over to the booth.

An elderly lady with obviously dyed red hair gave her a wrinkled smile.

"Hello, hun! How are you doin' t'day?" The accent was rich with southern intent, she was already writing things down.

"Hello, ma'am. I'm f-fine, yourself?" Ashley swallowed thickly, nervous jitters causing her leg to bounce.

"I'm just fine, hun, but down to business, yeah? Name and two forms of identification, please."

Ashley opened her wallet and fished out her birth certificate and her social security card, along with her state issued I.D. for good measure, depending on what the lady would need.

"I'm Ashley Jones Miss…" A glance at the nameplate on the elderly woman's ample bosom. "Miss Abernathy." A sweet smile graced the elderly woman's features again.

"Alright, Miss Jones. It's a pleasure to meet you, and I would like to know what brings you here to participate in the Egression Project?" Right, straight to business then.

"W-well, to be fair Miss Abernathy, I seek to u-understand and help the-" One look from Miss Abernathy spoke volumes of what she thought about Ashley's attempt at lying.

A the stone in her stomach dropped to her toes as she lowered her head and gave a small, nervous laugh.

"Alright, you caught me… It's my only… It's my only choice." A raised brow told her to continue.

"My… My roommates split on me when they heard about the monsters, I'm left with all of the bills and I can't even scrounge up enough money to pay for the bills and my food, let alone move to another apartment and pay a security deposit." The problem gushed forward and shame burned her cheeks. It was such a cheap, underhanded thing to do wasn't it?

Miss Abernathy didn't speak and Ashley heard the tick-tack and click-clack of the woman's long nails typing away at the keyboard, looking through the information Ashley had given and there was a hum.

"Is your address 3420 Dixon Street, Ebbot Point Apartment 26?" A curt nod and a 'yes ma'am' was all Ashley replied with. "Hmm, story checks out, got lots of vacancies in that apartment now."

There was more clicking and the screen of the computer was swiveled around towards her. "Take this short survey while I make copies of your information, try to answer as truthfully as you can, please and thank you." The sweet old woman made her way towards the back of her strange booth, opened a door and she was gone.

So for the next ten minutes she answered the ten questions.

1\. Out of the four, which would you prefer to do on a weekday night?

a. Cook

b. Dance

c. Take a Walk

d. Work

Well, she mainly worked on the weekend nights and weekday mornings with her two jobs, so the answer was easy, she would like to cook. It was fun, it was fulfilling, and it had the potential to make her bills cheaper.

2\. Out of the four, which would you prefer to do on the weekend?

a. Watch a Movie

b. Clean House

c. Work

d. Go to the Park

Of course, she clicked work, because that is what she preferred to do in order to keep her money flowing.

3\. Out of the four subjects, which interests you the most?

a. Science

b. English and Literature

c. Art

d. Physical Education

These were so… Normal. These questions weren't even odd at all! She picked English and Literature. She dabbled in writing and enjoyed to read rather mindlessly.

4\. What do you think of change?

a. Absolutely terrifying, I would prefer it not to happen.

b. Absolutely necessary! How else would society advance?

c. If something works it doesn't need to change, but if there are problems change should be sought.

d. Change is inevitable, but shouldn't be seen as positive or negative until it's affects are recognized, and change for the sake of change is ineffective.

Okay, that was an odd, odd question. But, she was stuck now between answering with C. or D., both make good points. To keep safe, she went with D since it did make the point change was inevitable, but change shouldn't be forced for the sake of change.

5\. How should you view the intention of strangers?

a. Strangers always carry potential danger and should be avoided at all cost.

b. Strangers are shaped like friends and should be treated like friends until they give one a reason to be wary.

c. Strangers should be treated with caution until trust is formed.

d. Strangers should be judged first on their actions and appearance, then approached.

Well, C. sounded the nicest and smartest way to go about things. Much more practical, but she still couldn't help the call of A. Still, she forced herself to interact with people on a daily basis and shouldn't be so afraid, so C. it was. Again, a weird question.

6\. What is your ideal date?

a. Staying at home and watching movies.

b. Going to see plays at the theatre.

c. A date at a fancy Italian Restaurant.

d. Going to the gym or park.

She wasn't going to date the monsters she had as roommates was she? A, was clicked, there was no way she was going anywhere other than her place because she was always broke. Always.

7\. What is your favorite food?

a. Spaghetti with Meatballs

b. Pastries, Cakes, and Pies.

c. Burgers and Fries

d. Ramen Noodles

Her budget called for Ramen Noodles, but her stomach called for Spaghetti like nothing else at that moment. Really, all of it called to her because she was incredibly hungry. So it was A.

8\. What is your ideal season?

a. Spring

b. Summer

c. Fall

d. Winter

It definitely wasn't Summer. Spring was a cause for grand Allergies and it was down to Fall and Winter… She loved the snow when she wasn't homeless, it was beautiful and was the harbinger of Christmas. Fall was mild and was the harbinger of binge eating and scary stories. D. was clicked.

9\. Are you allergic to any of the following?

a. Dogs

b. Cats

c. tems

d. None of the above

Well, she didn't know what a tem was, but she wasn't allergic to any of those, she wasn't allergic to anything other than dust as far as she could tell.

10\. What are your your cleaning habits?

a. I'm trash, I'm filth. I don't clean.

b. I can not stand filth, I am absolutely devoid of filth and will not have it in my household.

c. I clean regularly.

d. I clean sometimes.

D. Was automatically clicked. She cleaned… Sometimes.

It wasn't long after she finished filling out the survey that Miss Abernathy came back with her identification items, once they were stored back in her wallet, Miss Abernathy clicked and clacked on the computer before swiveling it back around to her and situating the keyboard right before Ashley's fingers.

"Thank you very much hun, all I need you to do now is fill out this paperwork, confirming your occupation, place of residence, character references, and then we'll be able to send you on your way.

"Thank you, Miss Abernathy." A real soft smile graced Ashley's features. For some reason, that survey made her relax just the slightest.

Ashley went to work on filling out the rest of her paperwork, using the touch screen computer to place her signature in the required boxes. Then bing, bang, boom there was all over information including character references. Two from her respective bosses and her land lady's information. While her land lady didn't specifically run the apartment complex like she used to, she saw to the attendants needs. If something needed fixing, the land lady would call on her.

If Ashley couldn't fix the leaky pipes or funky reception with the cable, they would have to call in a professional. It was one of the few things Ashley prided herself on doing, helping that old woman out when her brat of a son didn't.

She returned the screen back to Miss Abernathy and smiled a bit more, feeling nervous now. What if this was all for nothing? What would she do if she couldn't manage to get monster roommates? How would she react if she DID get them? It was all concerning.

"Alright, honey, now lemme ask ya somethin'. What are your opinions on the monsters? Your real opinions now, I'll know if you're lyin' to me."

Ashley swallowed thickly.

"They… They scare me." A disappointed hum came from Miss Abernathy and Ashley's head shot up from it's averted gaze.

"B-but! But, I think they deserve a chance- That's, that's one of the things that scares me. They could be bad, or they could be good- And if they're good I ruin it for them, but if they're bad I just-... I become a statistic as to why they shouldn't be here." She didn't want to be a statistic for anything that wasn't Hot Pocket sales.

The soft smile that graced the elder lady's pinkened lips made her feel a bit more reassured, but Ashley apologized for the outburst.

"That's quite alright, Miss Jones. I think I have enough here to get to work on your potential for this experiment. You should be called in the next three days, is it safe to assume you can be called between eight o' clock in the morning to five o' clock in the evenin'?" A nod from Ashley was all the elderly lady needed as she typed the information down.

"That should be just about it for now, dear. You go on home and get some rest, doesn' look like it did you much good last night." A weak laugh left Ashley and she nodded.

"Thank you Miss Abernathy… I hope you have a good day."

"I'll be havin' a good day when all this paperwork is done with, hah! Have a good day too, sweetie."

And so, Ashley made her way back home, unknowingly watched by the strange woman in white who didn't have quite the positive interview Ashley did.


	3. The Call

Disclaimer: I only own my original characters and the few original places. The rest of the characters, Mt. Ebott, and it's city belong to Toby Fox.

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Author's Note: Boy! These small errors in writing are the reason I need to reread what I write at least three times, my apologies!

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Waiting was the hardest part for Ashley. She'd gotten home, taken a shower, picked her barren place up a bit and then sat down and worried. She got up, made a bowl of cheap cereal, sat down and worried. She read a cheap romantic novel before bed (worrying in between the lines), and she slept. She worried in her sleep.

Ashley woke up, she did laundry in the laundry room down in the apartment's basement, she worried. She made a sandwich for lunch, she ate it, she worried. She went for a walk around the block, worrying the entire time. She began to get ready for work, applying a thin coat of her cheap (still expensive) make-up, and got ready for work. It was Friday night now, and she worried.

She went to her work at the local Skating Rink Concession Stand, and she worried while passing out nachos to kids with skid up knees and busted bums. She worried about the call, less about the kids. She took the stale popcorn home for supper, ate, and worried.

This process continued for the rest of the weekend. She worked, she worried, she ate, she worried, she cleaned, she worried, she shat, she worried. There was no end, not really.

Until the call did happen.

She'd been in the middle of her shower, when she heard the tell-tale beeping of her phone going off. That little beat caused her heart to skip a beat and she stumbled haphazardly out of the shower, not even grabbing a towel or turning the water off, she just grabbed up the phone in her wettish palms and pressed it to her soapy ear. Her stomach twisted in knots when she answered.

"Hello, is this Ashley Jones?"

"This is she."

"Hello, Misses Jones! This is a representative of the Egression Project! We are happy to inform you that you've been selected as a candidate for the project!" The man on the other side sounded excited.

Ashley's stomach did a summersault and a pirouette off the deep end of anxiety and she idly reached over and turned off her shower. No need to waste that. She just wasn't sure if she was going to be able to do any of this justice.

"Hello? Miss Jones?"

"Oh, yes! Sorry, I'm sorry. W-what's next?"

The smile is easy to hear on the man's voice, this was the sound someone who told you you won a lot of money was supposed to sound like.

In a way, she did, kind of, but she really won monsters, yay.

"Next, we're going to have you come back down to the City Hall, we'll be having a Seminar on how you're going to collect data for us and you'll be brought up to speed on what little we know about monster kind. The monsters, of course, have been doing the same thing and will also be taking down information on how humans react and so on."

So, she'd have to do a little more than just have them bunking here, that was fine. That was okay. She could do that, right? Right.

"Thank you, what time should I be there?"

"We have a Seminars Scheduled for the next three days, both in the morning and the night. We'll also have another Seminar on Saturday for those who can't make it earlier in the week, but they will have less time to prepare for their visitors."

She nodded her head and hummed in understanding, as if the representative was there beside her.

"Thank you sir, I'll be able to make the one tomorrow… Is it fair to assume I won't be expecting anyone till Sunday?"

"That's the correct assumption, ma'am! We look forward to seeing you tomorrow."

"Yeah, you too… Thank you again, bye."

They hung up and she sighed lowly, scratching at her still soapy head. So it wouldn't be till next week that she would get to meet her new roommates? Her new… Monster roommates? At least she wouldn't have to be waiting on the confirmation call anymore…

She returned to her shower and went about her day once again.

Ashley's ever present anxiety made sure to accompany her and grow along with her day and night. She was worried about the seminar, anxious about facing her fears, she also didn't want to be surrounded by people she didn't know.

But, the show had to go on. Sleeping was an ordeal for Ashley that night, which caused her to wake up in a rather sour mood.

This time she dressed in her more appropriate attire while fixing her hair into a tight bun and spraying down all of the loose ends. Idly she thought she looked like a homely librarian. It was a good day today. She hiked up her skirt, adjusted her peasant blouse and put on her flats. It was out the door and blisters on her heels.

The walk was even more agonizing in flats, they didn't support her frame like a nice pair of sneakers did. But, she made it on time, making her way into the City Hall building, she was directed to their large conference room, it looked a bit like a college classroom, one with hundreds of tiered, folding chairs. She was early enough to take a seat in the middle of the tiers, far enough away to not be called on and close enough for her to pay attention to whatever the speaker had to say. She settled her stuff down and approached the tables in the front.

Behind them were three people. One incredibly short, happy woman with rich dark skin, natural curls, and dressed in a gorgeous emerald turtle dress. In front of her was quite a few pamphlets, which the happy woman was more than eager to pass to Ashley, who thanked the woman with a slight smile.

The next man looked dower and intimidating, his features were sunken, tired, and had eyes the color of cloudy skies and he did not seem to want to be there. He pushed a thick set binder into her arms and jerked his head to the next man.

He was portly and jovial, he handed her what seemed to be an informative instruction manual. None of them seemed interested in telling her what the hell they'd given her yet, she assumed they would make an announcement for each item.

She climbed right back up the steps to her spot, now settling down and pulling the desk out before her, all she had to do was wait patiently. In the meantime, she flipped through the two pamphlets she got. One explained the Scientific Method in detail. The other was a pamphlet on the company that was helping the government in this experiment. The Agency of Anthropological and Mythological Research, or TAAMR, for short.

Well, luckily for her, she didn't have to wait for too long till the rest of the candidates showed up. She realized quite quickly realized many people were weeded out from before. The geeks and some gothic looking folk remained, there was only three elderly couples after seeing around twenty, there seemed to be one person who had been in that group of people who were so 'open minded', she knew some of those greaseballs had made it out, much like herself. Many of the ones she couldn't read had been left over. Though, the strange woman in white was nowhere to be seen.

That's when she realized her problem, she'd forgotten that there were OTHER seminars as well. Despite her thoughts being kept to herself, she felt incredibly stupid.

She shook that off once the three people from behind the table began the seminar.

"Hello everyone! If you could all quiet down, we'd be happy to start!" Those words were rich and filled with honey and she would be pleasant to listen to.

"My name is Destiny Rogers, I'm a representative of The Agency of Anthropological and Mythological Research. I'm here to make sure these government officials don't make things too confusing for you lot!"

The jovial, portly man snuck forward. "My name is Joey Whiler, I'm here as a representative of the monsters and Ambassador Frisk themself! I've been sent here to help explain the monsters, their involvement, and what to expect from them and their magic, as far as we've been able to study so far. " That happened to have been the man from the phone. Surely he didn't make all of those calls by himself?

Then the dour, sickly man stepped forward and cleared his throat. "I am Ivan Koval, I represent the government activity in this experiment. We are in charge of the laws, the protection, and the enforcement that will keep you safe during this experiment." His accent was thick with something slavic, Ashley wasn't sure.

A click of Mrs. Roger's remote and the lights dimmed and the projector turned on, displaying some strange symbol in purple overhead.

"Each and every one of you has been chosen to make true history here. You will all be among the first humans to live with and experience the everyday life of creatures we once thought to belong to fairytales and fiction alone!" This was clearly a passion for Mrs. Rogers, the thought brought a smile to Ashley's face.

At least someone could be happy, it was also somewhat calming, knowing someone like her was comfortable enough with this project.

"As exciting as these times are, I have to tell you all, this is no laughing matter, it's not all fun and games." The seemingly warm woman melted into something that was more cautious and serious.

"You hold in your hands the very future of these monsters, and should we believe that there has been any interference caused by fear, greed, or bigotry, we will be able to know. It's best if you keep your recordings and findings to factual statements and observations."

Ashley's smile was lost, she swallowed thickly with her own fear rising back to the surface.

Mr. Whiler stepped him, coughing a bit to gather attention to himself.

"But, I can assure, these monsters, as far as we know, have been nothing if not helpful, kind, and considerate. So, we're hoping you will keep an open mind and not allow such prejudice get in your way if you harbor any that we didn't catch."

It was Ivan's turn as he obviously stepped forward.

"There will also be no reason to fear them, if there is any hostility or any problems, you are encouraged to report any transgressions that may occur."

"Yes, thank you, both of you. Now, I'll begin first with my own slides to introduce the Scientific Method, and how to write up a report on what data you collect during the time your monsters will live with you."

That had been a long, boring slide show about things she'd learned in school, as well as the incredibly dull history of TAAMR. It was all covered in the pamphlets, and at least she knew what the binder was for now… Making scientific logs based on each day. She was also informed that getting a binder for personal feelings would aid in weeding out the bias from the fact, making her team's research easier.

For a year's worth of logs. The experiment would span over twelve months and Ashley was not looking forward to any of that. She would have given it six months, tops! But a full year with monsters was now awaiting her.

A slow clap filled the auditorium and Mrs. Roger thanked everyone and stepped to the side, letting Ivan take the plate.

She wasn't sure if it was possible, but that slideshow of Ivan's made her even more terrified. At least she knew what to do now if someone gets maimed and how to file an assault report. That entire spill also had her itching to go and apply for ownership of a weapon of some sort. She didn't want to be defenseless.

Then, they saved the best for last. The representative of the monsters. So this would be a slide show on the creatures in particular and what to expect.

Now she was ready to fear.


	4. The Monsters

Disclaimer: I only own my original characters and the few original places. The rest of the characters, Mt. Ebott, and it's city belong to Toby Fox.

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Author's Note: The cover page for the story has now been set to an image I've drawn up, it's posted here - **tinyurl teppic**

If you would like to take a look!

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As the projected image flickered back to that strange symbol she saw earlier, Ashley physically tensed up. So now was the time she was going to learn about monsters? She wished she had a notepad and a pen. Sure, she had the thick, black binder but that was not it's purpose, was it now?

Mr. Whiler took over now, once again clearing his voice in a comical manner.

"And now, the moment you've all been waiting for!" He exclaimed happily, "The monsters!"

Apparently, yes this was something that a few folks had been looking forward to, a whoop or two and some claps filled the auditorium for just a moment. Mr. Whiler raised his hand, chuckling softly.

"Yes, the monsters are incredible beings. I've, unfortunately, been unable to personally talk to many of the monsters. Those I have spoken with have been... Eccentric, but funny and over-all, quite accepting. They have, for over a thousand years, been ruled by one King and one Queen. "

People began to murmur in shock, the goats they'd seen from the T.V. had been alive for that long? Did they remember when they were driven underground? Ashley was curious about this too. How long did these creatures live for? Were they immortal? Could they... Would she be able to defend herself from them if they decided to hurt her?

"This is the Delta Rune, an emblem worn by the royal family. It represents a prophecy which has been fulfilled, as far as the monsters are concerned. The Royal Family currently consists of Asgore Dreemuur, the King of the Monsters and Toriel Dreemuur, Queen of the monsters. They have adopted Ambassador Frisk under their own terms, but depending on how the experiment turns out, they will have to file for adoption of the child with our government before she is truly theirs. To say the Royal Family has a lot riding on this would be an understatement."

The slide changed to a grouping of... Dogs? They looked like dogs! All of them white and fluffy looking. Yet, they all stood on their hind legs around an odd... Blob dog in the middle?

"Ah, yes, I can see how this might be confusing to many of you. These are Dog Monsters, called collectively the Dogi! They comprised most of the Royal Guard in the Underworld, acting as law enforcement, protectors, and loyal, affectionate friends. Between them all is an Amalgamation of their parents and family members, we still aren't sure how this came to be, but we're working on learning more about it."

They would have all been cute, if ti wasn't for the fact they stood on their hing legs, wore armor, and had other oddities surrounding them. It was surreal! That amalgamation had her shuddering quite thoroughly.

"There are many different types of monsters that make up their population!" He began to click slowly through the pictures on the slide. "Bunnies, lizards, eyes, rocks, ghosts..!"

He was going too fast! Lizard people? Bunny people? If she wasn't freaked out by the anthropomorphic animals, there were also eye creatures, bug creatures, rock creatures!

"And even skeletons! Can you imagine that? Somehow they have HUMAN skeletons making up some monsters."

The world seemed to crash around Ashley and her ears began ringing while the other sounds Mr. Whiler faded away. Skeletons? Did... he really say skeletons?

Images flashed through her mind.

A child, unable to move and a skeleton with horns was on a plaque on the wall, as if it was a trophy. It was right over the child's bed. Slowly, the skull descended towards the child who reached out to her mother's bed that was in the same room. Her voice didn't work, but she tried her best to call to her mother.

The world came back into view and Ashley flexed her fingers into her hands. Skeletons were a prominent figure in her old night terrors. There had been so many she remembered, all concerning the skeletons she experienced.

But, what would be the chances of her getting skeletons for roommates? For all she knew, she could get one of the Bunny creatures or one of the Dogi! She would even take some creepy eye monster over a skeleton! Did she get a choice?

Her blunt nails scraped over her scalp as she brought her mind back to the task at hand, learning about who she was facing. On the screen, there was a picture of food. Relatively normal looking food. A burger and fries to be exact, next to it was a rather proud looking man... Made of fire?

"Ah, yes, monsters have incredible food! Food us humans are very eager to pick apart and learn about. They are also eager entrepreneurs. Grillby, the monster featured here cooked up quite the delicious burger and fries, a staple in his pub! It was more than surprising to find out about this, who would have thought a burger would've made it's way down to the underground for them to emulate!"

That DID look delicious. But, what about the fire guy? Would he burn down someone's home if he was in it? The answer was quickly given.

"Grillby, like many other elemental based monsters, is able to contain their magical bodies to keep it from harming or burning anything down. But, there have been instances where anger has left a few soaked or scorched!" It was laughed at by Mr. Whiler, but frankly, Ashley was petrified by that.

They were all so.. frighteningly diverse and potentially dangerous... It might have been easier to just run away and abandon ship... That thought was snuffed out as memories welled up, threatening to spill over into her mind.

Really, this seminar wasn't doing anything to quell her growing fears and anxieties. It made her feel a bit angry at herself and the monsters for the situation she was now put in.

The next picture was of a square looking robot, a large screen, and a few other gadgets.

"Don't let anyone tell you monsters are stupid! They have, instead of clinging to the old ways of their culture, decided to progress! The Royal Scientist, Alphys refused to have her picture taken, as she was incredibly shy and modest, instead she featured all of the technology she reversed engineered, from simple cell phones, to complex robots and computers, Alphys has done it all! Unfortunately, her title of Doctor is under review, as she hasn't taken any of the requirement classes for the title, but there are high hopes of her passing all of the equivalent college course tests to gauge her knowledge on such subject matters."

So they were technologically advanced as well? That was mind boggling, you would figure that being trapped underground would keep you trapped in the past as well. Their resilience and smarts were... Definitely to be admired. Ashley felt envy tickle at the surface of her mind, but squashed it quickly. She had no doubt that this Alphys character worked hard and was ingenious if she could contribute so much to her people.

"The aforementioned robot is also quite the creature! Alphys built this body from the ground up, and one of the Ghost monsters possessed it! Isn't that fascinating? Now he has a corporeal body and seems to be more than eager to put himself on humanities map of stars!"

Now there were ghosts that could posses her? Well, maybe not her, he didn't say anything about human possession, but if the Ghost Monsters could possess inanimate objects, what is to stop them from inhabiting her body? One of them wanted to be a star? A celebrity? At this rate, the entirety of Monster Kind were celebrities! Just wait for those future reality shows, if it all worked out for them anyways.

The next picture seemed to make Mr. Whiler a bit sad.

"But, even so, Monsters, like Humans... they can die. When they die, their bodies decompose into dust instantaneously. There are many ways that monsters can die. One was is that when two monsters come together, they can create a child and as the child ages, they are essentially giving up their very life energy to bring them into the world. As far as we know, monsters are able to have up to two children, otherwise it is fair to assume they would breed themselves out of existence if they only had one child at a time."

Well... That was incredible. Ashley felt her heart tighten at that. Such sacrifice, knowing sacrifice. The monsters could last for so long, but in order to bring new life into their world, they had to sacrifice, age, and die for their child to grow and live their life. She let herself smile a bit at that. If only all parents could be so selfless...

"Monsters who are injured beyond repair can also die and turn to dust. Any diseases they have at the moment are, as far as we know, not powerful enough to result in mortality and both humans and monsters are immune to the respective species diseases."

That was a relief, at least she wouldn't catch some disgusting bug from the monsters and end up dying a horrible death... Luckily for them, it wouldn't happen the other way around either. As far as any of them knew, anyhow. So much for many ways to die for the monsters. The question she had was... How do you protect yourself from them?

"Now, the next subject is... Important. I need you all to pay close attention, because this is a grim, but necessary discussion to have. Through monsters, we have discovered the existence of... The soul."

That seemed like a bomb dropped on everyone in the auditorium. Murmuring started up again, growing a bit louder from the shock.

Ashley couldn't help but be shocked at the fact either. It had been a long, long time since she thought about the possibility of souls. After overcoming her battle with her fears, she had decided (to spare her mind), that there was really no such thing as the paranormal or supernatural. Those truths were being crushed, one after another.

"Now, now. Keep quiet, I know this is strange news, but let me explain."

The presented picture showed a monster with what seemed to be the classical stylized heart out before them. It was a soft, white glow emanating from it.

"This is a soul. Funny, isn't it? We all believed this symbol was an attempt to simplify the shape of the anatomical heart, but it is now theorized to be the soul, rather than the heart itself."

Ashley shook her head, in complete disbelief.

"It is a fragile thing, the soul. It releases itself from it's body when magic is present in abundance. The monsters are comprised of their soul and magical energies entirely, which is why they decompose into dust once the soul is destroyed, unlike our bodies, which are still composed of organic materials. You see, many monsters fight with magic, it's how they defend themselves and when engaged in a.. battle, with a monster, both parties souls are in the open, certain items are able to protect your soul, they are typically important items or tools you use more than anything else as they are more likely to become imbued with your unique soul energy."

They could... draw out a human's soul... and destroy it? It took all of her willpower to not breakdown in the middle of the seminar. Apparently she wasn't the only one having second thoughts... Her were more like sixth thoughts at this point, but someone spoke out about what they were hearing.

"Is it possible to drop out from the program?"

Mr. Whiler looked disappointed, but nodded.

"You will, of course, get the chance to leave the program, but you will be kicked from not just the program, but the entire experiment and city. If you own property, a week will be given in advance to get your affairs in order."

An angry huff and 'that's so stupid' left the person's mouth and they stormed out of the seminar.

"I was afraid of that." Mr. Whiler looked a bit tired.

"I know that this entire experiment infringes on many of the basic rights of humans, but never before in the history of the world have we had such an occurrence happen. There are many who are furious with us, and already there are anti-monster protests breaking out all of the world on every continent." The poor man looked so sad about it.

"But, I'm confident in everyone's ability to handle this experiment. We realize eliminating all human bias is impossible, but each of you were picked for your abilities to reason between different points of view, including your own. The ability to try and understand despite what may stand in the way. So long as we all hold on to a modicum of respect for our visitors and they do the same, we will be able to make it through this and possibly give Monsters the basic rights of life." He laughed hollowly.

"We had to reject many of the people who were eager to participate and help the monsters, because they simply couldn't see the risks either. But, there is... a concerning amount of power that these beings hold that we have to be wary of. So those who were obsessed with getting them free had to be declined, they represented too much bias as did those just seeking love and companionship, Monsters are not pets. Those who held fake motives, such as wanting to hinder the project were also weeded out as best as we could. Those who thought it would add to their... street credentials have also been thinned out, as they lacked the maturity to understand the concept of the experiment."

Ashley felt her heart clench a bit. Mr. Whiler must have had a hard time of it, rejecting the people who had such good in their heart, but a blindness to the danger. Even he was cautiously optimistic in the face of such unknown variables. That explained it, however, how Ashley had been picked, despite her lack of experience with handling responsibility.

"Ah, my apologies, I know this is a bad note to end on, everyone. But, the Seminar is just about done. You are expected to thoroughly fill out your report binders as professionally as possible, I suggest you keep a journal to try and separate feeling from fact. Your new monster housemates will be arriving on Sunday, make sure you all plan ahead to have free time open this Sunday Evening and they will explain the stipends that will be shared among the house. I will now answer any of the questions you might have."

Well, at least Ashley knew how to... Defend herself from the monsters now. Now she knew they weren't invincible... But, she also knew there was more sentience and feeling than she might have thought of before. It didn't help her anxiety over what type of monsters she would be boarding with, or how she could get hurt or she could screw everything up.

She hoped her new... Roommates would arrive before she left for work, it made her uncomfortable thinking about leaving her door unlocked to let strangers in. It's not like she really had anything worth stealing, but arriving home to strange monsters was an unsettling thought.

With a sigh, Ashley packed her stuff up and nearly ran out of the auditorium. She had some planning and preparing to do for her new guests.

And then she had to wait. Again.

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Tell me what you think, tell me how I'm doing and what you'd like to see more of and less of! Also, do any of you have any other ideas for covering the monsters? I'm worried that I didn't do a thorough enough job! Thanks for reading!


	5. The Arrival

Disclaimer: I do not own anything created by Toby Fox, he doesn't own anything created by me, you know the drift. Like Pacific Rim.

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Author's Note: I don't know what the deal with is, but it won't let me see the reviews being posted, so I'm sorry if it might seem like I'm ignoring you guys after specifically asking for feedback. I've checked my Review Moderation things, on and off either way, I don't see the reviews. This is a pretty old account and I'm trying to get access to the e-mail it's connected to, so please, be patient with me.

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After the seminar ended, Ashley made a big decision. It was time to go to the store. With her meager funds, she would buy another black binder and some notebook paper in order to keep a journal like what was suggested to her. There was a nice little department store along the trail between her home and the City Hall. It was convenient and would surely have what she needed. Luckily enough for her, it was open as well.

Many of the businesses that had once called the city home were closed, either until the experiment ended or for good. Ashley was sure that prices in the city would skyrocket at this news, as the lack of competition means less competitive prices. So she would have to tighten her coin purse more than she used to.

The walk was solemn and filled with all kinds of dark thoughts. Like how all of this could play out in the end. Her sour mood even followed her into the store as she shopped around, looking at the things she wanted, but couldn't afford. Even in this little dollar store, she was unable to really splurge on much. She picked up a binder that looked surprisingly similar to the one she already had tucked under her arm. She was glad she'd made eye contact with the clerk before stepping into this aisle. Ashley shopped a bit more for the essentials she was running out of, more of her favorite cheap cereal, some ramen noodles, and a cheap chocolate bar. She was getting wild tonight. Honestly, she had the right to treat herself after all of this.

She trudged over to the cash register and checked out. She left the store with her wallet lighter, and her heart heavier.

The walk back was less of a hassle, since she'd also asked for an extra bag to carrier her other binder and informational pamphlets in, at least there was that small comfort and she wasn't juggling all of her items..

Thank god it was a Monday. You see, Ashley was off on Mondays, they were her Fridays. Throughout the week from Tuesday to Friday morning she worked at a crummy little diner as a waitress. Friday night she worked at her favorite place in the world. Rob's Rink. The best skating rink in the city, in her own opinion.

It was better than The Blades, that place was chock full of elitists, doing dangerous stunts (that normally ended up failing). It might not help the fact that the two establishments had Roller Derby teams with a fierce rivalry. Idly, Ashley wondered if any monster gals would join the team, lord knows they would have the intimidation factor. Both teams had taken a noticeable hit, as far as Ashley knew.

If only The Blades had gone out of business with the news of the Monster Experiment coming up, that would've been amazing. But, now she guessed that since it would only be the two teams that could play together for the next year... There might be some deaths related to Roller Derby.

Ashley would've joined herself by now if she'd felt confident and strong enough to do it. Those women... They were absolute beasts and she would much rather keep her teeth in her mouth. It was one sport she thoroughly enjoyed watching, however. Now, she wasn't a bad skater either, thank you. She could do a few little tricks and was able to serve food and drinks with her roller skates on. They were one of her very few precious possessions.

Before she knew it, she was back at her Apartment Complex. She maneuvered her bags onto her left arm and opened the door with little hassle and was greeted with a familiar, wrinkly old face. Miss Carol was her land lady, technically, even if her son dealt with the financial aspects of the apartment complex. The old woman was sweet, but her son was not. The guy had no kindness in him and would kick her out if she was too late with any of her payments.

Ashley gave a weak smile to Miss Carol.

"Oh! If it isn't my handy Miss Ashley, how are you doing today dear? Did you manage to get into that experiment thing?" Well, it was obvious that Ashley wasn't going to make it to her room any time soon, so she walked over to the reception desk and placed her bags on the counter.

"Yes ma'am, I got into the program, thank you for the recommendation." Obviously, the darling old lady had given her a good review, seeing as how she knew about it and sounded excited to hear the verdict.

"It's no problem sweetie. I couldn't think of a more capable, darling young woman to help those poor creatures out! Imagine it, being stuck in murky caves for such a long time." Ah, Miss Carol was so dramatic, it was cute.

"Well, I'm not sure if I'll be able to help or if I'll be a hindrance ... All I can do is try to make you proud and stay strong, right?" The reply was weak and didn't seem to be so confident in even her ability to stay strong.

"Oh darling, you already make me proud." The elderly woman reached up and over the counter to pinch softly at Ashley's cheek, who responded with a bigger smile and an embarrassed flush of her cheeks. This woman was like a grandmother to her.

"Do you need me to help with anything today?"

"Oh, don't you worry your pretty little nest of hair, I've got plenty for you to do." They shared a laugh and discussed what would need to get done. Someone on the third floor was having trouble with their toilet leaking in the tank, another person couldn't get the cable hooked up correctly and had only one channel coming through, and then there had been an accident where some of the wallpaper on the floor down below had been messed up by some aggressive moving out.

"I'll get to work on the third floor."

And so she went up stairs, to put her stuff down and proceeded to distract herself with work. There was less worry and she was more relaxed, having talked to the kindly old woman.

The week trudged on without much excitement. There had been a call from Mr. Whiler, telling everyone that each month there would be a meeting to discuss the findings, any issues that may arise, and give little reports so everyone could see how the experiment was holding up.

Ashley kept working, finding herself amazed at how filling up on a workload was distracting her from the inevitable visitors that seemed to be approaching too quickly.

Still, she couldn't avoid anyone talking about the experiment. Being a waitress at a diner meant folks asked her about her opinion about what was going on. Of course, she made polite conversation, acted sweetly and got her tip out of them, but no one understood how much it caused her stomach to flop just at the mentioning of it.

Bless the children at the roller rink who were more interested in talking about it with each other, rather than her.

Rob, her boss, wanted to talk about it quite a bit. But, since he was another favorite person in her life, she was more than happy to lay the situation out for him, as he was always so full of advice.

"Well, I'll tell you what I'd do if I had to worry about that. I'd get a gun and keep it for those just in case situations."

It wasn't a bad idea in theory, but lord knows what could go wrong if you pulled out a gun on a monster who could magic missile you to death. Then again, it could level the playing field. But, one problem stood in her way.

"I don't have the money for one... I also don't think I could pass the background check."

The lax man reclined in his computer chair, shades being pushed up to his forehead to reveal tired green eyes. He would scratch his vibrant red hair in thought. Rob really wasn't bad looking, thankfully he was gay and she was able to not form a crush for this reason.

"Well, I would suggest self-defense classes, but I guess... Well, I guess you don't have the money for that either." The silly man gave her a look of guilt. "I could give you a-" Ashley's hand shot up.

"You know I've seen the books, you can't afford giving me a raise, Rob. Especially with how business is going now..." The red head gave a hum of agreement.

"Might have to fire Reggie." A grunt from Ashley spoke volumes about her agreement. That kid just did not do his work, and when he did he didn't do it properly. He was normally nose to screen with his phone.

"It'd mean more hours for you though." Ashley let out a soft groan.

"I don't know if I want that or don't want it. I'd be here for twelve hours for three days... I take it there might be a slight cut in pay too?" Rob gave a rumbling, sad yes.

Maybe Rob wasn't that good at advice or making her feel better by talking, but his mellow, laid back personality was what she liked best about the older man. It made her act a little more calm and collected, even a little funny.

"We both might be in trouble, Ash." Another grunt of agreement from the girl lounging on a maroon leather sofa in her boss' office.

They continued that for a while until they both left for home. That had been on Friday night. Saturday was more hectic than she was expecting, she figured some people were trying to get their fun in before the monster's were let loose. There had been an announcement in the news that everyone should brace themselves and expect to see their new guests walking about the city with their 'handlers'.

Ashley didn't sleep that night, ate her entire chocolate bar and had a few small bouts of panic and worry. There was no reading, there was no sleeping, there was no cleaning. Just worry.

Sunday finally rolled around and she was full of nervous energy. How many times can someone wash their entire collection of plastic fast food soda cups? Many times, apparently. She'd even gotten down and dirty and cleaned out the inside of the plastic trashcan. If she was disgusting, she would've gotten on her knees and used her tooth brush to clean the tiles in her bathroom and the ones in the kitchen.

Then there was her apparently new beauty regiment of scrubbing her skin raw in the shower, then doing the same with her face. Picking at it and no doubt causing scars on her pimples. She even splurged and put on a generous amount of her make up to try and hide her flaws.

On one hand, she wanted to hide and get ready to ignore the monsters and their inevitable arrival, on the other hand she wanted to make a very good impression. It was around four o' clock when she began pacing back and forth.

She looked better today than she had in a long time, even in her work uniform, just her t-shirt with "Rob's Rink!" in a pink motif on the shirt and the yoga pants that matched with it. It didn't really compliment her rather unrefined figure, but it still added to desperately needed confidence.

It was five o' clock, an hour before work started when she heard it, the first set of knocks. Lazy and slow.

Ashley's heart stopped, it was put on pause along with her breathing. She stood there, like a deer caught in head lights, eyes boring into the faux wood. Another set of knocks, much more different and a voice accompanying it.

"SANS! OBVIOUSLY YOU DO NOT KNOW HOW TO KNOCK, AS THE HUMAN WAS UNABLE TO HEAR THE FIRST TIME." A loud voice assaulted the door and her ear drums, causing her to visibly jump in surprise, letting out an undignified noise. There were no words to explain how petrified she was at the moment.

"yeah, you're probably right paps, lemme try again. knock knock." The other voice was deeper, with an artificial tone of humor.

"SANS, PLEASE!"

"knock. knock."

Unbelievable, was he... Was he trying to tell a knock knock joke? Were these the monsters? She began to move closer to the door, till she pressed her ear to it, feeling compelled to play along.

"W-who's there?" Came the timid reply.

Sans looked to Papyrus, who seemed exasperated already. Who wouldn't be after all they've been through with their brother messing around in such a serious moment? And the human was playing along too!

"will." The deep voice rumbled back.

"Will who?"

"will you open the door, already?"

Honestly, there was no mirth that she could detect, or maybe it was just her lack of humor at the situation. Was it the fear? If the joke was supposed to make her feel better, it didn't.

What she wouldn't have gave for a peephole at that moment, but it was just a flat door with a knob, that was about it.

Ashley took a steadying breath and she forced herself to open the door. She stared at the floor first, but then her eyes traveled up as she spoke.

"I-I'm Ashley you must be- You must be-"

There were skulls.

There was a scream.

There was darkness.


	6. The Skeletons

Disclaimer: I don't own anything made by Toby Fox and Vice Versa.

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Author's Note: Still having problems with the reviews, trying to get it worked out! Also, sorry for the wait, New Years was spent at my gal pal's house. Here we go!

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It was dark. So, so dark. There was something dragging behind her, something heavy that all of her limbs were attached to. She couldn't move very well, her limbs hardly inching forward, every step was a shuffle and the object grated behind her. Something touched her back, but she couldn't turn her head much at all to investigate.

The fear was stifling, it was as heavy as what she was tethered to. Her muscles screamed at her to move and run and escape danger.

The sound of joints popping made her ears burn and she tried to call for help. But, no one heard her. No one came. Her voice was a croak. The crackling of bone moving was next to her ear, then there was the clacking as if teeth were chattering together. The burning in her left ear was worse and she couldn't move her head away. The noises stopped for a moment.

But, the skull appeared so quickly and in it's defined maw, the remnants of her ear were in it's mouth.

Then she woke up with a jerk, her bleary eyes struggling to open. There were people talking around her, baritone voice and something higher pitched. One seemed worried, the other seemed... Annoyed.

"Sans, did we break our human?"

"i don't have the **_faint_** est idea."

"SANS!"

She closed her eyes for a moment and rubbed her face, noting that she must have broken out into a cold sweat. Hesitantly, Ashley touched her left ear and noted that it was fine. Now, what had happened? The monsters!

She had been waiting on the monsters and they arrived and they were...

Skeletons. A chill shot up her spine.

"HUMAN! YOU'RE AWAKE! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS KNEW YOU WOULD BE JUST FINE!"

Ashley peaked between her fingers and blanched. But, they didn't look like... Normal... Skeletons.

One was incredibly tall, dwarfing both her and the other skeleton behind him. The tall skeleton... his outfit was so weird and she wasn't sure what to think about it, or him or his... Skull. Another shiver wracked her body.

Their eye sockets were able to twitch upward, as if it was skin and flesh instead of hard bone. It was... creepy. Just so, so creepy. Their teeth, the definition where skin muscle, sinew, and flesh could have settled. One hand fell to her mouth and she could have thrown up, had she ate anything.

The smaller skeleton looked to be her height, maybe a bit taller. But, he was wide in his stature. Something... Maybe the way he looked at her made her feel unsettled, even more so.

Ashley supposed she didn't really make a good impression, but fighting back this fear was hard. They hadn't hurt her, yet... And one of them had moved her to the couch? Her rough, unkempt nails fell to the thread bare fabric beneath her and she grasped at it.

"what? weren't expectin' us? i thought they gave you humans a heads up."

The woman swallowed thickly and she took a deep breath to try and keep herself from over-reacting again. She signed up for this didn't she? She knew this could've been a possibility, but she still went ahead with it, right? She should be stronger than this. Shame burned her cheeks and suddenly she forced herself up off of the couch, eyes cast down to their feet and her hand shoved towards the tallest skeleton.

"I-I am sorry I did t-that, please forgive me. It's n-nice to meet you." It was choked out and she held her hand firmly outstretched before her and nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt a pair of gloved hands grasp her hand with enthusiasm, shaking it up and down with a surprising amount of strength. When he let go, she thought her arm would still keep flailing from momentum.

"It's fine human, I know that I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, have the ability to make anyone faint from my amazingness!" She gave a weak laugh.

Was this another dream? He seemed genuinely sweet. Already, she felt guilty for being so afraid of him. "It's nice to meet you too, human!"

"I'm... Uhm, I'm Ashley Jones, I'll be your host." Great host you turned out to be.

"I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS. And this is my somewhat less great brother, Sans."

Her eyes flickered up from their spot on the floor to look at the big boned skeleton, giving a nod in his direction.

"yeah, nice to meet you." It didn't sound very nice, but she had all but given her fear away when she fainted, and now she didn't have the courage to look back up. She heard the little beeping tune of her ringtone coming from the depths of her couch and then she remembered she was supposed to be at work!

"Oh no, Rob!" She dove into the trench like couch cushions and pulled up the flip phone, opening it up and pressing it to her ear.

"Ashley! Ashley is that you? Are you okay?" Worry was thick in Rob's voice and she nodded stupidly, like he could see her.

"I'm fine, I'm okay... I didn't even leave the house yet."

"Thank goodness, I thought you might have- I mean, I know you were expecting visitors, but I didn't know if it would end bad or good, or if maybe you left and walked or got mugged or worse!" It warmed her heart knowing he cared more about her safety than her punctuality.

"I'm good, I'm fine now, no they're... Uh, they're fine they're nice. What time is it, how late am I?"

"Only about ten minutes late now, I know it's silly to call, but-"

"No, no! I appreciate it, Rob. Thank you. I'll be there as soon as possible." They said their goodbye and the skeletons looked at her expectantly. She swallowed and tried to get over their appearances by imagining them as anatomical dummies from science class.

"Sorry, again." She mumbled in shame. She shuffled around a bit and tried to think about what to do now.

"Don't worry, human! Don't let us keep you from your duties!" He had such a tone to his voice.

"I'll show you around first. I mean there's not much to show, it's not like it's a big apartment or that spectacular- I'm not saying you couldn't do it on your own either, I'm sure you're both intelligent and capable but- I just.. I. Lets go to the kitchen first." She stumbled, she tripped, and her mouth lost the race with her mind.

"A great idea! I'm quite the cook, you know!" Why did the skeleton know how to cook? Could they eat...?

"Is that right? M-me too... What's your favorite food?" She tried to make polite conversation as she motioned for them to follow.

"MY SIGNATURE DISH IS SPAGHETTI! ASK ANYONE WHO HAS TRIED IT, THEY HAVE SAID THERE IS NO OTHER SPAGHETTI LIKE IT!"

Spaghetti...? Wasn't that a question on the survey she took?...

"And I know you will love it too, human! After all, that was one of my standards!" That explained some things.

"I-I can't wait to try- I'll go to the store tomorrow and... buy some ingredients, you can come too! I mean, if you need to! Or you can write me a list, if you'd rather-"

"Nonsense! I will accompany you to the store tomorrow!" It was a good thing she was off tomorrow.

It was next to the living room, you could easily see it through the small arch way. Against one of the walls there was a pitiful plastic folding table with four chairs. One was a wooden chair with a tie on cushion, the other three were all metal chairs. The counter tops were cheap laminate the color of murky blue, the fridge was ancient and so was the stove. Really, it was a very cheap apartment. Even her friends who were more 'well off' weren't well off enough to afford co-payment for anything else.

"I know it's not much but-"

"Nonsense! It's bigger than our old kitchen! You even have a place to sit and consume that isn't in front of the television!" Ashley let her gaze drift to the skeleton that towered over her. He seemed so optimistic and sweet... She really hoped it wasn't a front.

"Well, I'm glad you like it." She pointed over towards a door to the left of the fridge. "That's my room... I don't mean to sound rude or anything, but I would appreciate it if you'd... Ask or knock before coming in or going in..." She didn't want to wake up to skeletons in her room. It would be her sanctuary in her own home.

"Why would that be considered rude? Sans keeps his door locked all of the time, is it unusual for humans to keep their privacy?"

"No, no, I just... I don't know what's normal for monsters either..." She spoke softly. Of course, neither of them really knew what either species considered normal, but at least privacy issues lined up well.

The smaller skeleton was keeping quiet, but she had a feeling he never took his gaze away from her for long. She slunk around them through the arch way again.

"Your rooms are over here, between the two of them is the bathroom. If you guys need to... brush your teeth or... shower or stuff." She sputtered awkwardly, she wasn't sure what they would need it for. Did skeletons get dirty? Did they... poop? Her cheeks flushed, that was so embarrassing and rude. "You two can decide who gets which bedroom, the one on the right is the master suite and has a walk-in closet. I-If you need anything, feel free to uhm... Search the cabinets or fridge. Mi casa es su casa."

Ashley spun on her heels to see Papyrus give her a confused look, again she flinched some, noting that his facial bones really could... convey feeling.

"It's a different language, Spanish. It means, my home is your home. I-I've got to go now. Let me just." She shuffled over to the table beside the door. It had her wallet, keys, and a small purse. Her shaking hands took a moment to pull off two identical keys from the ring. The apartment keys. She also took out thirty dollars from her wallet, and took a piece of paper and pen from her purse, writing down the number to a pizza place. Gathering up the paper, money, and keys she turned around and approached Papyrus, letting her gaze flit to Sans for a moment. He made her nervous.

"Here, these are your keys. There's some money here and the number for the closest, " and cheapest... "pizza place. Their supreme is good... but, if you don't like vegetables, they've got cheese and meat lover's too. Should be enough for two pizzas. Okay, I have to go, I'm sorry I can't stay and get to know you both." She was more relieved than anything.

Before the skeletons could even give a goodbye, she had stuffed her purse with her phone and wallet then proceeded to high tail it out of there. She didn't even say goodnight to Miss Carol on her way out, who seemed to want to talk about her new friends.

Back in the room, Papyrus and Sans spoke softly.

"Is the human afraid of us?" It was a sad little tone from Papyrus that caused Sans' nearly permanent smile to flicker.

"nah, i'm sure she's just shy, pap."

"You must be right! Frisk is just a child, and she didn't even fear us when we were trying to capture her! Our human is just shy! But, she won't be like that forever. NOT WITH THE MOST POPULAR PAPYRUS AROUND! I'LL BRING HER OUT OF HER SHELL!"

Sans didn't tell his brother, but he highly doubted the human would come out of her 'shell' anytime soon.

"lets see about ordering that pizza."

Ashley had missed the bus after her little fainting escapade. She normally took it to work, since it was about night time when her job at the rink started. Now she had to walk for the next twenty minutes just to get there. She was lucky that she lived Down Town where you could walk to your destinations just as much as you could take the public transport. Again, fortunately for her, the path to her job was well lit, thanks to the fact there were many bars, clubs, and eateries around. Since it was Sunday and a good portion of the city's inhabitants were staying in tonight, there were few people actually out and about.

She wished there were more people around. But, she was smart enough to keep to the well lit areas, stay away from alleys, and keep eye contact to a minimum. Ashley spent her time walking thinking about the skeletons and the entire meeting. She had been so rude, she didn't ask them much about themselves, she'd screamed and fainted. She felt so ashamed. Ashamed she couldn't control her fear enough to make a good impression, ashamed that she might have hurt their feelings or made their first day there uncomfortable.

But, she still felt her irrational fear. Waking up from that nightmare to see them standing there, it brought images to her mind. They could hurt her so badly and it scared her. Did they have the strength to do it? Without muscle, could they do anything?

 _'They have magic you don't know about, of course they could hurt you.'_ The traitorous voice hissed in her mind, she gently rubbed a hand over her heart. They could find a different way to hurt or kill her... Was it more painful than anything they could physically do to her?

It wasn't a good time to be thinking such thoughts, but she was. Her feet had successfully carried her to the parking lot to Rob's Rink and she let out a happy little sigh. Maybe Rob would let her skate a little after closing up.

She opened the glass doors and made her way to the Ticket booth, where Reggie was lounging about flipping through his phone. Ashley frowned. She stood there for a moment, wondering if he'd seen her at all. She was standing in plain site.

Ashley cleared her throat.

"Just a second, kid. I'm tryin'a score a-" His dark eyes flickered up to Ashley's face and he dropped his phone quickly. "Hey Miss Jones... Didn't think you were coming in tonight."

"I can see that... Why are you working the booth? Rob normally does that when we're under staffed..."

"Unno." Reggie shrugged, not giving her any information at all.

"Stay off your phone, if I'd been a robber, you wouldn't have known what hit you..." Reggie's smart ass tapped the glass that separated them. Ashley pointed her finger at the holes that were conveniently before her co-worker's face.

"A shot of mace would be all it takes."

But, she decided not to argue anymore, she really needed to work and take her mind off of everything.

She heard the thumping of music, some loud kids, the sound of wheels on hardwood floors and her heart melted. It was a good place, a happy place for her. Ashley made her way into the brightly colored room. Before the monster debacle, it was packed every night with so many people. Had to be careful of anyone trying to skate drunk, but now it was just filled with regulars. No monsters in sight, yet. Making her way to the concession area, she saw Rob there. He was laughing it up with one of the patrons, scratching at his little goatee and nodding in reply. After the patron received his nachos, he skated over to one of the booths to eat.

Rob finally caught site of her and threw his arms up in exasperation. "Ashley!"

She made her way behind the counter and grabbed her apron, tying it around her waist.

"Rob, I'm so, so, so sorry. I didn't mean to be late, it's just the monsters surprised me and-"

Rob pulled her into a bone crushing hug. "Oh, just shut up. I was worried sick about you. You're always on time, I never have to worry about that. Don't worry that pretty head of yours, okay?"

The man made her feel so safe when he hugged her tight, she returned it and made a little sigh.

"Thanks Rob, it makes me feel better knowing I've got you looking out for me." The man pulled back and gave her an award winning smile. "Anytime, champ."

"Why is Reggie at the ticket booth?"

"Because he's useless at the concession stand unless you're here, I found that out the last time you were so sick you couldn't come into work..." She cringed. There was no way she could have helped Rob that night.

"I'm just glad you're here, safe and sound. I gotta make it back up to the DJ booth. I had a playlist set up, but it helps when I can take requests and add some commentary. Luckily there isn't a birthday tonight."

Ashley nodded and let her boss go, then got to work. She worked hard, cleaning everything, deciding to organize as best as she could. Anything to distract her from what was waiting for her back at home.

The night continued on without issue. She'd decided not to stay and skate, instead she took her skates home to clean them up. She didn't want to miss the bus ride home. It just didn't seem too appealing. All she truly wanted to do was to go home and go to bed.

So she did. It was around two in the morning when she got to the apartment complex. She crept up the stairs, quietly unlocked the door and stepped into the living room. She could smell that they had pizza, so apparently they did eat... Ashley moved from the foyer to the living room and found one of the skeletons were on the couch, slumped over and... snoring? From the height and shape of his head, she noted it was Sans...

Skeletons could sleep... Who knew?

For a moment she stood there. He was basked in the glow of the TV. It contorted his features even more. He looked so... sinister to her. Maybe less so or more so because of his skeletal... eye socket lids? She continued staring for a while. He was dressed normally for the most part, aside from his pink, fluffy slippers and his socks. She could make out his shin bone and her stomach knotted up.

"starin's rude."

Ashley flinched and felt the color drain from her face. One socket opened to reveal a white pupil and she took in a stuttering breath.

"Sorry..."

"s'good. i know my figure is somethin' some humans would _**die**_ for. so i'll take it as a compliment."

A shudder shook her body.

"Right.. okay." She escaped the room to the kitchen quickly, deciding she didn't want to be apart of that confrontation anymore. She would've gotten a slice of pizza, but she heard another door open and as soon as Papyrus asked his brother if the human was home, she ducked into her room. If she talked to either of them anymore tonight, she would have a break down.

She still had one more job to do though. On the small dresser of her room, her two binders were there. The journal would go first. She had to get her feelings out.

So she did.

Then she filled out a log. She didn't know if the folks running the experiment knew if the skeletons could eat like normal monsters, so that went in. So did the fact that they could sleep. She also stated the fact that they were polite, not hostile, and did nothing to warrant any issues. They had no trouble ordering pizza, so there was the fact they could operate technology, place and order, and just... act like members of society.

It was hard for her to accept, but she wrote the facts down, trying to keep her fears from affecting the program.

Then, there was nothing else to do except crash in her bed.


	7. The Bus

Disclaimer: I own nothing made by Toby Fox and vice versa.

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Author's Note: Well, found out there's nothing I can do about the reviews and it seems to be a site-wide problem that has happened numerous times before. I just don't want anyone to think I'm ignoring them. Still, feel free to post your reviews and commentary as they should show up at some point. I have also changed the e-mail this account is connected to, so maybe I'll get to read your reviews through my e-mails! Thanks for reading.

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The night was long. A restless sort of slumber was all Ashley could face. Every hour she would wake up, afraid to fall into that deep REM sleep she craved. There was no doubt in her mind that if she fell asleep, she would wake them up with either screaming or hitting the wall her bed was pressed against. It was uncomfortable and she knew tomorrow would be a long day.

When light streamed in and touched her face she forced her stiff body out of the bed and fell into her routine. She grabbed up her clothes, nothing fancy. Good ol' t-shirt and jeans combo. Underwear, bra... Check and check. Sluggishly she approached the door, she touched the handle and braced herself for the day. One turn and a push and she was into the waking world. It surprised her to not find either skeleton in the kitchen. Maybe they both slept in-

"GOOD MORNING, HUMAN!"

Ashley didn't know if she was more surprised by him or the fact she didn't look like him after jumping out of her skin like that. Clutching her clothes her her chest she doubled over for a minute.

"Oh... Oh, good morning, Papyrus. You s-surprised me." A light smack to her back had her almost tumbling forward. Standing up straight might help her balance out quite a bit, now that she thought about it.

"YOU SHOULD REMAIN MORE VIGILANT! Undyne taught me about that, maybe it is my duty to also teach you that! YES! IT WILL BE ONE OF THE WAYS I HELP YOU OVERCOME YOUR CRIPPLING SHYNESS! NYEH HEH HEH, I'M BRILLIANT!"

Crippling shyness? Vigilance? It was too early after too short of a night for any of this nonsense. Did he think she was shy instead of blatantly afraid? Well... He seemed the type to not quite grasp social cues quickly. Maybe that was a good thing. His personality was like a ray of sunshine, that was for sure.

"Right... Maybe you can help me overcome it." Her eyes cast downward again, but she gave a little smile. Turning to the fridge she pointed up at the off-brand cereals she kept there.

"Feel free to have some cereal, Papyrus. There's some on top of this fridge, the milks inside, the bowls are in the top cabinet to the right of the sink, and the spoons are in the drawer to the left of the sink." Her finger moved in each direction as she explained where everything was.

"I'm going to go and shower and get ready for the day. If your brother wakes up before I'm out, let him know he can help himself."

A guffaw left the skeleton, seemingly put off by something. "My brother? Awake at the crack of dawn? If only!" Ashley gave a small, weak chuckle.

"Well, I'm sure there's left over pizza, right? He could have some of that."

"He did enjoy last night's pizza. My brother does prefer saucier foods, it makes me wonder why he doesn't enjoy my spaghetti as much as I do!"

"Do you make it a ton?"

"a skele- **ton.** " Again, she jumped in shock. Sans was right beside her! How on earth did he get to her side without making any noise? Must have been the slippers.

"SANS! You're awake! Good morning brother, I'm surprised to see you up!"

"i'm just as surprised, i was sleeping like the **dead**." In the distance, Ashley could've sworn she heard a 'budum-tsssch' following that joke. She must have lost her mind. Absolutely. There were two skeletons in her home, one making puns and the other one just about ready to make spaghetti.

The clothes in her hands must've been heavily wrinkled with just how hard she'd clenched them to her bosom in fear. At least someone got some sleep around here, she guessed.

"So, I have to uhm, shower... Now. Will you be coming with Papyrus and me, Sans?" She braved a glance at the skeleton and noted he looked somewhat sleepy himself.

"nah. i'm just going to lounge about if that's okay with you."

"Yeah, that's absolutely fine." She might have said that a bit too quick.

"i figured."

With a new sense of embarrassment and fear she dashed out of the room. Her and her big mouth. She made her way into the bathroom finally. She brushed her teeth, stepped into the lukewarm shower, and dried off all in record time. Another fear that plagued her was they if one of them made their way into the bathroom, she wouldn't be able to see their figure creeping around her if they were seeking to assassinate her for one little mishap.

She had a feeling that Papyrus wasn't dangerous, despite being the taller one. He wasn't intimidating in any way other than looking like a skeleton and having a big personality.

Sans, however... Ashley knew he didn't like her. Puns and jokes were supposed to have an air of humor and fun-ness. Any joke he directed at her so far seemed to be thick with a sort of meanness. Maybe he was just like that. Maybe he didn't trust her. She certainly hasn't given him any right to... But, damn it! It wasn't like he'd given her any reason to trust him either.

A spike of anger shot through her. She hadn't expected it.

Her blue eyes were fixed on the mirror before her and she let out an aggravated sigh. It wasn't fair! It wasn't fair that she was put into this position! She had no choice but to take in these skeletons! Oh, the other option being homeless wasn't a death warrant or anything! Now her face was covered in stress pimples! Her tiny fists smacked onto the laminated counter and she found herself wanting to do that over and over and over again. So she did until the sides of her fist hurt and tears prickled at her eyes.

 _'It's not fair... It's not fair. It's NOT FAIR! IT'S NOT FAIR!'_ She doubled over the sink, grinding her teeth. Where was all of this rage coming from?

Another voice whispered to her, reminding her of something. _'It's not fair being forced to live underground for thousands of years either.'_

That quickly let the hot air out of her temper tantrum and she slumped thoroughly against the sink, her forehead resting against the faucet. No, it wasn't fair. It wasn't their fault they got sent down there and had to come up to this world only to be experimented with in order to have their freedom. It wasn't fair at all. She felt her guilt double.

She certainly didn't put them down there, so she felt no guilt over that. She felt guilty about her emotions. She was guilty that she just sat there, silently throwing a fit over something neither party was able to control.

With a defeated sigh, she sat up and rubbed the tears from her eyes. She was slow to get dressed and she didn't do anything other than throw her sopping hair into her pony-tail. It would dry on the way to the store.

She left the bathroom feeling drained, not taking note of the short skeleton sitting on the couch, letting out soft snores. Papyrus was still in the kitchen, humming away and cleaning up what appeared to be two cereal bowls.

"Oh... Papyrus, thank you. You didn't have to wash the dishes, I could've." The skeleton turned around, giving a slight smile. It'd flickered to a frown when he noticed her head hanging low.

"Do not worry, human! My brother and I will not be a nuisance- Well, **_I_** won't be a nuisance while I'm here. I tend to pick up after myself... Sans, however... He's a lazybones who won't even pick up his socks!"

A laugh left her and she forced a smile, turning her gaze up to meet Papyrus' voided gaze. "Well, thank you Papyrus. Maybe you can keep me from making messes too- I mean, I'll clean up if I accidentally leave something don't be afraid to like tell me or anything! I won't do it on purpose just to bother you but sometimes I-"

Papyrus had moved in closer than she expected and he clapped two gloved - _wet_ \- hands onto her shoulders. "Worry not, Ashley! Papyrus will help your cleaning habits since you asked! You'll be speed cleaning constantly after I'm done with you!" She shivered in disgust, but tried not to let it show on her face. She could feel the joints of his bones, where they caught on the inside of his gloves.

She took a step back, causing his hands to fall to his sides. "R-right! I'm glad you got what I meant, thank you Papyrus!... Are you ready to go to the store?" She would need to talk to the brother's about their money situation. It would be an unpleasant and rude escapade, but she really needed to get the rent gathered up before Tom Carol descended upon her with a vengeance. That could wait till they were back with the groceries.

"RIGHT! I AM VERY EXCITED TO MAKE IT TO THE STORE. I'm curious to see what all the humans keep on their shelves!" She eyed him up and down, wondering why he was dressed the way he was. Maybe it was just a monster thing? Sans dressed somewhat normally... She would have to ask Papyrus about his choice in garments later.

"Okay, follow me. We'll take the bus to the grocery store..."

"Ah! The bus! I know what those are! The really long, big vehicles! My brother and I were dropped off by one!"

"Good, it's good you know what they are. You won't be afraid of them..."

"HAH! The great PAPYRUS, scared of something?" He looked like he was offended, but then deflated. "I will admit, I was unsure if it would harm myself, my brother, or or the other monsters. But, that won't be a problem today!"

"I know what you mean, new things are scary..." She grabbed up her wallet, pulled her phone out of her pocket and put both into her purse again, she was surprised there was change on the table, it wasn't much, but she appreciated it.

"Sans, we are leaving for the grocery store now!" Papyrus called to his brother who peaked from his tired eyes between the two by the door's foyer.

"yeah? keep my brother safe, human. have a good time paps, pick up some ketchup."

What a weird request. The ketchup part. Not the keeping his brother safe part. She had to say it, the way he commanded her to keep his brother safe was so rude she managed to send a small glare his way. His eyes only shut a bit again.

"if he gets hurt it's bad times all around."

"HAH! Like I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, will be getting hurt. If anything, I will protect the human from getting hurt! Ready, Ashley?" That familiar feeling of rage settled in her stomach and she cast her eyes back to the door knob she'd grabbed in frustration.

"Yeah, ready. Let's go." So off they went.

They were both down the stairs in no time and lo and behold, there was Miss Carol. She seemed to be reading some erotic novella of some kind. Was that Fabio on the cover? A snort left her as she eagerly approached the elderly woman.

"What is Fabio up to today?"

"Ah, he's driving his long hard-" The elderly woman shut her trap when she saw Papryus standing behind Ashley. At first the elderly woman was surprised, but her gaze quickly softened and a sweet smile pulled at the weathered edges of her mouth.

"I see! You're my new tenants, the one from last night! I would have never guessed you and your... brother was it? Would have been the new housemates of my sweet Handy Ashley here."

"Hello! You are Miss Carol correct! I am the great Papyrus!" An eager skeletal arm jumped passed Ashley to present itself to their land lady. Aforementioned woman was quick to take his hand with her dainty, frail old lady fingers and gave his hand a shake. Ashley couldn't help but to feel grateful that Papyrus didn't shake Miss Carol's arm out of socket.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, The Great Papyrus! I have to say, your cheerful attitude is going to do wonders for little Ashley, I just know it!" Traitorous old hag.

"Nyeh heh heh! See human! Already people see the greatness I can do for your shyness!"

"R-right! Miss Carol, did Mr. Johnson's cable hook up work for him throughout the night? No mess ups?"

"Oh dear, you did a wonderful job like always! He commended you so much for your work!" Ah yes, the small swell of pride that filled Ashley was well worth the hours fixing his cable.

"Anytime Miss Carol."

"So, Papyrus, how are your brother and you enjoying the apartment? I know it's not much, but I'm proud that my old building is housing monsters."

"It is absolutely satisfactory, Miss Carol! I even have the master suite! It has a closet that was bigger than the one from my old house!"

"Ah! That's so good to hear, I'm sure you have... plenty of interesting clothing combinations to fill it with!"

Ashley idly wondered how Miss Carol was so confident and relaxed talking to the skeleton, when Ashley could hardly stand her back being turned to the towering monster, no matter how kind and sweet he acted there was still a nagging sensation in the back of her brain that any moment he'd lunge at her and take a bite out of her flesh.

Or her soul.

She shook her head to disperse the thoughts and gave a tight smile to her land lady.

"I have to go, Miss Carol. Papyrus wants to make spaghetti tonight and we need to get to the store."

"Spaghetti you say! Oh that's a wonderful dish! I have a few pasta recipes myself if you would like to try them sometime young man!"

"Wowie! There are more types of spaghetti?"

"Well, everyone has their own way of making it! Not to mention all of the other kinds of noodle and sauce combinations. If you have enough left over, I would love to try it sometime!"

"YES! I WILL MOST CERTAINLY BRING YOU THE MOST DELICIOUS ARTISAN SPAGHETTI I CAN MAKE, MISS CAROL!" A determined look crossed the skeleton's face and he nearly jumped out of the door.

Ashley jumped into action, sending a glare to the mischievous looking elderly woman before tailing after the over enthusiastic skeleton. It really was shaping up to be a long day. It was only nine o' clock by now.

Unfortunately, Ashley had to grapple onto the flailing arm of the skeleton, much to her disgust, to keep him from running in the wrong direction of the bus stop. She pulled him along for only a minute before letting go, explaining that they had to wait for a little bit till the bus could make it. She flipped open her phone, ten minutes in fact.

They made it to the bench, which had been warmed up perfectly thanks to the early September. She nearly relaxed thanks to the pleasant weather. It was still brisk, thanks to it still being relatively early. She let out a cautious (yet content) sigh. Papyrus copied her actions and was strangely... Quiet for a moment. It nearly surprised her when his voice mumbled out in a lower tone than what she was used to.

"I do not think I could ever tire of being above ground." His voice was soft, reminiscent even. She mustered the bravery to glance at him and he seemed to be staring up at the sky, basking in the rays just the same as she'd been happy to do many times before. It had to have been the first time in the last two days that she held her gaze on him without flinching away. He just seemed so... at peace. Shame washed over her and she looked up to the sky as well. If she proved to be so scared, it could end up hurting their chances of remaining her. Enjoying... something as simple and normal as the sky. Honestly, she should be watching out for anyone who could threaten her or Papyrus... But, the soft fluffy clouds above and the occasional 'vrooooom' of the passing cars lulled her into a trance.

"Those white puffy things, they're... clouds? That is what Lady Toriel called them. "

"Yeah." Her voice was more of a whisper. "They're clouds... Sometimes people just watch them and relax.."

"That seems like something Sans would do!" His head righted itself and he seemed a bit embarrassed to indulge in something so... slow and calming. She supposed it was because it wasn't productive.

"Well..." She started, pursing her lips. "It's okay to slow down and relax... Take in the little things... If you'd rather work your brain and imagination out... You could find shapes in the sky."

"Shapes? In the sky? ABSURD!" The skeleton's skull snapped upward to the blue and white patterned sky. A soft, nervous laugh left her and she hesitantly pointed up towards one of the larger masses of clouds.

"Look at that one... Kind of looks like... a flower."

"I have no idea what you're talking about!"

"C-c'mon! I mean, six petals... All around one big sphere! Kind of... A few of the petals are messed up." The skeleton seemed determined to make up the shape and stood up, as if being just a bit closer could possibly help him decipher these shapes.

She shook her head and for a moment, she swears she was being watched. Her head swiveled around. Really, no one else was around other than a few stragglers probably trying to get to work. They made a point to stray away from her and Papyrus. She wondered if they were possibly scaring people away from the public transport. This would be the first day monsters could really go out and about with their 'handlers'.

"Ah! Yes! I see it now, human! But, feast your eyes on this puffy symbol of a car in the sky!" She let her head fall back to see where the red glove was pointing. Well, by the clouds above he got it. It brought a more genuine, relaxed smile to her face. He... scared her because of his appearance... There was no way that sweet Papyrus could even hurt a fly.

"Absolutely, Papyrus! It looks like a sports car..." She mumbled, lifting her head up enough to see that the bus was rounding the corner. It came to a hissing stop and the doors opened to reveal a rather bored looking old man with brows nearly covering his brow and a mustache hiding his mouth. He didn't seem to be the normal bus driver for this route.

"Oh Wowie! This bus is a different color than the other one, bigger too..." He mumbled and she nodded. They must have used a fleet of school buses to distribute the monsters everywhere. She grabbed hold of his wrist, this time trying to block out the feeling of his wrist bones instead of just... blatantly feeling disgusted by it.

Getting on the bus was easy for her, but poor Papyrus had to nearly bend in half. The bus driver was surprisingly not reacting to the monster coming aboard, though some of the other more fearful humans quickly left the bus by using the back door. That left them some room. Any other look the duo got was either a look of slight fear, curiosity, or maybe even some anger by the folks sitting closer to the back of the bus. It made Ashley feel a bit more protective of Papyrus, who didn't really seem to notice much as he marveled at the different advertisements above their heads. She motioned for him to sit down on the inside of the seat. She knows he would be squished, but she didn't want anyone acting like they were 'accidentally' stepping on or kicking him getting off or onto the bus.

It was a blessing that the Skeleton kept quiet. During the ride, there was a young child closer to the front of the bus while they were in the center, and this child kept... staring at Papyrus while his mother was focused on her phone. Her skeleton companion took notice, tilting his head over to her and causing her to tense out. He was... so close to her ear.

Images of the nightmare flashed in her mind, but stopped when he finally got his words out.

"The child... does he... need something?" Really, the kid was freaking her out too and with the combination of Papyrus being close and the kid watching them, her nerves were shot.

"I have no idea-" The child made a face, sticking his tongue out and giggling. He had to have been no more than eight years old. His dark mop was covered over with a green beanie. He tried to duck behind the seat, but his radiant green eyes bore into them.

Papyrus seemed to take this as a challenge, biting his top set of teeth over his lower jaw and... Ashley would've screamed if she wasn't on the bus!

Did a pair of eyes just materialize in place of Papyrus' eye-sockets? As if they were bugged out? Really... That was nightmare fuel and a half... But, it did look kind of funny... Funny enough to make the kid bust out laughing. Papyrus in turn made a 'nyeh heh heh' of victory and puffed his chest out.

The kid seemed to be eager to meet her skeleton companion and tried to get his mom's attention. After a distracted 'sure, whatever', the kid stumbled his way over to the two of them after the bus stopped to let more people on. He scuttled over to the bench in front of Ashley and Papyrus, all the way over to the window so he could get right in Papryus' face. Somehow though, he managed to be shy and duck just a bit behind the bench, whispering a 'hi'.

"Hello, tiny human! Your face making skill were impressive!" How could a kid be more brave than she was?

"You beat me though! You're a monster right?" An affirmative and proud nod from Papyrus. "That's soooooo COOL!" The child whispered in amazement, coming up from behind the blue seat, leaning in for a close look at Papyrus.

"W-Wowie! A genuine compliment!"

"Well, yeah! It's even cooler that you're a skeleton, like wicked!" Speak for yourself, kid.

It was more than obvious that Papyrus was basking in the praise given to him by this kid.

"What's your name?" The child asked curiously, resting his chin on his arms.

"I am the great Papyrus!" A few of the adult sent annoyed looks to the group on the bus, thanks to Papyrus' natural... tone.

"Inside voice, Papyrus..." The skeleton looked to her, nodding with a sudden determined glance. "This is Ashley, she is my friend..."

Oh... Ashley felt... Odd. He said that and she felt very odd, like... She didn't know how to feel about it. After all they only just met... She was scared of him... But, her heart felt warm, knowing he considered her to be among the ranking of friend after such a short time and especially with how badly she acted towards him.

"Hi Miss Ashley, hi Papyrus! That's a weird name, I think it's awesome... My name is just Alex... Ugh, it's so boring and plain!" She knew how the child felt, deep in her soul.

"It's nice to meet you, Alex! I have yet to meet a human with that name, so it is interesting to hear." That seemed to perk the kid up quite a bit.

"Cool! That makes me the best Alex." The child puffed up like he really was the best. His looked out the window and became a bit frantic. "Oh man, hey... Uhm. " He pulled out a smart phone and looked to them expectantly. "C-can I know your number? It'd be so cool to have a skeleton friend! Man, the other guys will be so jealous!"

"I-I don't know what would your mom think?" Jeez, this kid was brash! Where was his mother? Her child was just over here asking stranger's for their number. It made her feel sick to her stomach at the blatant neglect.

"Aw, don't worry about her... She's always texting one boyfriend or another. " Ashley gave the kid a small look of apprehension.

"You know it's bad to talk to stranger's right?" Especially one that is an unknown monster part of a project to see if they were dangerous to humans or not.

"I am afraid that Ashley is right! When I was a babybones, Sans told me not to talk to strangers, I could end up in trouble!"

The child deflated some. "Yeah... Yeah, I know.. It's just... You're so cool!... My stop is next, will I get to see you guys again?"

Ashley felt Papyrus' intense stare on her. "I... probably. We take this bus often enough. Just don't go hopping on it to see if we're there." This was so weird. "Just don't go talking to anymore strangers. Like Papyrus said, you could get into a lot of trouble... I don't think either of us want to see a kid get hurt, Alex..."

The kid cheesed, showing off a missing tooth and made his way back over to his mom with the bus stopped. Ashley wasn't even sure if the woman had even seen Papyrus, even as he waved a goodbye to the child.

"Bye Papyrus, Bye Miss Ashley! It was nice meeting you!" The child waved in return and he was off into what she assumed was his mother's apartment.

What a mess... Yes. At least the store was next.

* * *

I'll probably upload again today, but I got really inspired with this bus scene! I hope you can forgive me! Am I keeping Papyrus in character enough? I'm trying to keep from using caps-lock too much, I know it can get a bit obnoxious. If you want to review again, I think I'll be able to read them through my e-mail now. Tell me what you think, how I could make the story better, the pet peeves you have about my writing! Critique, critique, critique!


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